Puppy Update

A5 Sweet 16

Well-known member
As many of you know, I lost my springer Buzz last December, right as we were getting into the best part of the season.

So Ace is now 5-1/2 months old & has been hunting 3 times. So far, of all my springers, he seems to have the most innate know-how. The others developed into spectacular hunters, but right out of the box, Ace hunted. Out in front, looking for.....something. Pheasants, mice, rabbit fart residue, moths. Never following. Never out of control (although those moments will undoubtedly come). And on his 2nd outing, he realized there were pheasants in that grass & that they're more fun to find than other things. The lightbulb definitely switched on. As people, we're pretty much helpless for quite a while & have no understanding of what our job is until we're well into adulthood. With every dog, it blows my mind that they're able to discover their special purpose so early on in life & with almost no training or experience. It's almost as though it's genetic or something.

Here's Ace w/ his 1st rooster. Look how he retrieved to hand, sat, & held, waiting to gently drop it into my hand. He may come from great stock, but my training improves with each dog too.
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OK, the truth? He did flush it & did find it. A shih tzu could've found it because I really creamed it good & it landed tail-up dead in some relatively light cover. Ace was instantly in love. At my first attempt to interrupt his efforts to completely pluck the bird, he picked it up & tried to drag it somewhere safe. That's when I got the picture of him "holding" the bird. This picture is probably more representative of what really happened. He'll figure it out though. Is puppy. I do so love springers.
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That right there is good stuff! Annie tells everyone Im still in training. She was 4 yesterday. Time is absolutely flyin. Have fun Brent!
 
Great story and thanks for coming clean. That second picture is priceless. Glad to see Ace is coming along and my guess is you guys will have a lot of fun this fall and for many more to come.
 
You had me wondering there for awhile... Its special to see the natural instinct of a young puppy, thank goodness we don't have to teach that. Its also so rewarding to watch a dog learn from what only experience can teach.
Thanks for sharing.
 
Ace's First Limit!!

I found some public land w/ a little more corn nearby (still standing of course) & I suggested to young Ace that it might be time to quit messing around w/ sub-limit outings.
Voila....his first limit! 6 months old. 6th hunt ever. On birds that have now been hunted 4 weekends in a row & who knows how many times in the past week.
I like to think I play a part in the equation, but mostly I think springers (even puppies) have the ability to make roosters materialize out of thin air.
He & I had a great weekend!
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That's awesome for both of you! He'll have you trained before too long! Save a few please..I'll be out there on the 10th for my first trip of the year!
 
That's awesome for both of you! He'll have you trained before too long! Save a few please..I'll be out there on the 10th for my first trip of the year!

Will do Mike. Even I can't shoot them all. :rolleyes:
He's training me just fine. When we got back to the truck & I was busy getting packed up & ready to head home....
Ace got into the corn field. It must've smelled wonderful in there. A couple hens flushed WAYYY over there & he didn't come out for nearly 10 minutes.
On the drive home (he rode in the back seat), I told him about this really cool collar he's going to get to try on this week. It's time.
 
Does that really cool collar come with accessories like a hand held transmitter? He's gonna love it!!
 
Does that really cool collar come with accessories like a hand held transmitter? He's gonna love it!!

dakotasj....it does! Funny, I was just reading a post elsewhere by a guy who's getting a similar collar for his very old pointer, who's supposedly lost most of his hearing.
Well, I think most springers are BORN w/ severe hearing problems. But thanks to Ben Franklin & his experiments with kites, etc., we have a work-around for that.
But you're right....my dogs, like most others, learn to absolutely LOVE that collar very quickly.
 
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